The death toll from the torrential rains that have hit southern Brazil in recent days, with their procession of floods and landslides, reached at least 29 deaths on Thursday, May 2, and 60 people are still missing.
Across the state of Rio Grande do Sul, to which President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva promised government aid, there are Dantesque scenes: gigantic mudslides, houses and cars drowned as far as the eye can see, evacuations of residents and animals carried out in extremely risky conditions by emergency services.
For Governor Eduardo Leite, it is about “worst climate disaster” never seen in this border state with Uruguay and Argentina.
600 soldiers deployed
More than 600 soldiers were to be sent as reinforcements for relief operations and the distribution of food to the victims. The floods are concentrated in the central region of Rio Grande do Sul, where 154 localities have been hit.
According to the latest report from Civil Defense, more than 10,000 people had to leave their homes, of which some 4,600 were taken into accommodation.
Many roads are inaccessible and water and electricity supplies are compromised for hundreds of thousands of people, according to local authorities. Cities are completely isolated, without internet or mobile phone signal.
